Insider Selling: nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CAO Sells 415 Shares of Stock

May 22, 2026 by InsiderTrades.com

Key Points

nLight CFO Joseph John Corso sold 20,243 shares on May 19 at an average price of $68.48, totaling about $1.39 million. The sale was disclosed in an SEC filing and was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards.
Corso has been active in selling recently, with multiple additional transactions in mid-May and early March. After the latest sale, he still held 213,048 shares valued at roughly $14.6 million, though his ownership fell by 8.68%.
nLight’s fundamentals and analyst sentiment remain positive despite the insider selling. The company recently beat earnings and revenue expectations, posted 55.2% year-over-year revenue growth, and several analysts have raised price targets, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy.”

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) CAO James Nias sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.09, for a total transaction of $29,502.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 98,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,006,701.49. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Before the Moon Base Gets Built, These 4 Companies Win

James Nias also recently made the following trade(s):

On Tuesday, May 19th, James Nias sold 1,618 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $110,800.64.
On Monday, May 18th, James Nias sold 1,565 shares of nLight stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.82, for a total transaction of $110,833.30.
On Friday, May 15th, James Nias sold 1,487 shares of nLight stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $111,762.92.
On Thursday, March 12th, James Nias sold 1,808 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.42, for a total value of $116,471.36.
On Thursday, March 5th, James Nias sold 3,249 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $201,308.04.

nLight Trading Up 7.2%

NASDAQ:LASR opened at $76.43 on Friday. nLight has a 1 year low of $13.38 and a 1 year high of $86.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -254.76 and a beta of 2.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $68.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.88.

Analysts Are Bullish on These 3 Laser Tech Companies

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 4.18% and a negative net margin of 5.08%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LASR. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of nLight in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.06.

nLIGHT, Inc. takes aim at a much higher share price

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on nLight

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of nLight by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of nLight by 622.7% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 77,201 shares of the company's stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 66,518 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in nLight by 8.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 75,545 shares of the company's stock worth $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 5,828 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in nLight by 7.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 107,417 shares of the company's stock worth $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 7,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in nLight in the second quarter valued at $600,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company's stock.

More nLight News

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment remains supported by nLight’s latest quarterly report, which showed EPS of $0.20 versus $0.08 expected and revenue of $80.18 million versus $72.14 million expected. Revenue also rose 55.2% year over year, reinforcing the view that business momentum is improving. Q1 Earnings Highlights: Advanced Energy (NASDAQ:AEIS) Vs The Rest Of The Electronic Components Stocks
Neutral Sentiment: Several executives sold shares, but the filings indicate the transactions were pre-arranged under Rule 10b5-1 plans and tied to tax withholding on vested equity awards, which makes the selling less concerning than discretionary insider exits.
Neutral Sentiment: CEO Scott H. Keeney sold shares in multiple transactions, and CFO Joseph John Corso and CAO James Nias also sold stock. While insider sales can weigh on sentiment, the disclosed rationale suggests routine portfolio/compensation-related activity rather than a change in business outlook.
Negative Sentiment: The large amount of insider selling, especially from the CEO and CFO, may create some short-term pressure on LASR shares as traders weigh whether management is taking profits after the recent run-up.

nLight Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

nLIGHT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications.